THE United Jubail Petrochemical Company (United), a manufacturing affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for its carbon dioxide utilisation project to Germany’s The Linde Group to build the world’s largest carbon dioxide (CO2) purification and liquefaction plant.

The plant will be designed to compress and purify about 1,500 tonnes per day of raw carbon dioxide coming from ethylene glycol plants. The purified gaseous CO2 will be supplied through pipes to three Sabic-affiliated companies for enhanced methanol and urea production.

The plant will also be capable of producing 200 tonnes per day of liquid CO2 with food grade quality which will be stored and thereafter supplied by truck to the beverage and food industry.

It is the first carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) project to be realised in Saudi Arabia.